Marles rejects carbon tax advice: Local firms ‘safe’

By John Van Klaveren
A WARNING Geelong small businesses should budget for a five per cent carbon tax cost increase was based on “gross exaggeration”, federal Labor MP Richard Marles.
The Member for Corio said Treasury modelling, acknowledged as the most accurate, predicted only a .7 per cent increase.
“There’s a dramatic difference between the suggestion out there that the carbon price might add five per cent to the cost of business and Treasury models,” Mr Marles said.
“Treasury is a reputable outfit, it knows what it’s talking about and its modelling has taken into account all supply chain factors.
“To the extent there are prices rises associated with the carbon tax, small businesses will deal with that in same way as other price increases. This will trickle down the economy through lots of small businesses but is still only .7 per cent.
“There are a whole lot of other forces in the economy giving rise to an increase in prices, including the Australian dollar. The dollar Aussie dollar has a similar effect on some businesses to that of the carbon tax almost nightly.”
Mr Marles was responding to a story in last week’s Independent in which a Geelong accountant advised small businesses to budget for “an average” increase of five per cent. WHK Geelong’s Anne Lockwood warned businesses of the tax’s impacts on supplies other than power and “hidden costs”.
Mr Marles said end consumers would pay for most cost increases.
“That’s why we have household assistance packages, to offset any price increases for you and I.”
Only the 500 largest emitters of CO2 would pay the tax, he said.
The tax was important to ensure Australia was less carbon-dependent.
A range of assistance programs for small businesses available at cleanenergyfuture.gov.au, he said.